Never really got into SEO, I'm aware what it does etc but in my ignorance I always look at it as a kind of Black Art - a way for a company to tease money out of me for not doing an awful lot... I realise that this is probably not true for companies in the main but that's how I feel about it.

However I am aware that as a company that specialises in something quite unique I should really appear on the first page of Mr. Google's site... and I don't.

So I just rec'd a cold call from a company called First Found - offering me first page/First link SEO for what felt like an attractive price.

6 month contract for £295 as a set up fee and the £49.95 a month with 'unlimited' key phrases.

Does anyone have any experience of this company or what it is that seems to be a fair price to be paying? Be great to learn some more!

Sounds far too cheap.I don't like the sound of 'unlimited' keywords. Surely you would target a small number not hundreds.

I agree, sounds like nonsense. Unless you choose your 'unlimited' keywords from a list provided by them? And they get you a top ranking for the phrase 'I'd like to buy a woolly green jumper this tuesday'. Even then, sounds like they're just talking rubbish.

Ask yourself how much work you'd do for what they're planning on charging...

Done right, SEO is a time consuming process. These outfits will either get you results on way too easy nonsense phrases and/or rely on dodgy techniques that will ultimately count against you in the long term.

They're the digital equivalent of having someone advertise your business by going around graffiti-ing on your neighbours' houses!

Genuine SEO & Social Media work WILL give you a positive return but sadly there's far too many cowboys around who promise the earth and make those of us who do it right shudder when we hear "...but this nice Indian chap on the phone said he can get me 1000 back links for £50!"

I get many cold calls during the week for claims of SEO and getting me to the top. Nearly all of those calling me are scams and only a little bit of time on the net while they are talking to me revels poor websites and non realistic prices and promises.

With SEO, if you want it then its probably best to look for the person to help you rather than them finding you.

My first question to them if they can get me first page why are they not on the first 10?

For Our SEO we had a section added to our website which links into google analytic which we can control and with a little bit of time we are climbing the search engine, we are also finding our company under our clients websites in some cases and in others where we have updated our blog and done a full SEO we have been above a supplier of equipment we just mentioned. It takes time and generally I find that when / if we have some spare time we go through it all as tbh I do not think I am willing to pay for it at the moment when I feel we can do it quite well

Never really got into SEO, I'm aware what it does etc but in my ignorance I always look at it as a kind of Black Art - a way for a company to tease money out of me for not doing an awful lot... I realise that this is probably not true for companies in the main but that's how I feel about it.

However I am aware that as a company that specialises in something quite unique I should really appear on the first page of Mr. Google's site... and I don't.

So I just rec'd a cold call from a company called First Found - offering me first page/First link SEO for what felt like an attractive price.

6 month contract for £295 as a set up fee and the £49.95 a month with 'unlimited' key phrases.

Does anyone have any experience of this company or what it is that seems to be a fair price to be paying? Be great to learn some more!

My first question to them if they can get me first page why are they not on the first 10?

It's not as straightforward as that. Half of the sites on page one of Google for "SEO" are there because of unethical means. One of them is spamming sites to get links to theirs and another is using links from their client sites to boost their own rankings.

Of the 4-5 agencies in the UK that I rate for doing proper, innovative work and getting solid results for their clients, none are on page one for this keyword. Most are probably too busy working on client projects than to spend the huge amount of time needed to get to the top for this search term.

It's not as straightforward as that. Half of the sites on page one of Google for "SEO" are there because of unethical means. One of them is spamming sites to get links to theirs and another is using links from their client sites to boost their own rankings.

Of the 4-5 agencies in the UK that I rate for doing proper, innovative work and getting solid results for their clients, none are on page one for this keyword. Most are probably too busy working on client projects than to spend the huge amount of time needed to get to the top for this search term.

Which ones do you rate these days? Feel free to PM. Are you going to SearchLove in a couple of weeks time?

I think there's a very simple method to picking a good SEO company. You type into google 'SEO' into google and click the first result which is a business that sells SEO.

If they're first for such a competitive term then they must be doing something right.

Won't be cheap, but it should be worth it if you've got a product people want.

[quote]It's not as straightforward as that. Half of the sites on page one of Google for "SEO" are there because of unethical means. One of them is spamming sites to get links to theirs and another is using links from their client sites to boost their own rankings.